Nightcap of the New York Life ACC Tournament
In the nightcap of the first of the two longest days of the ACC season, #6 seed Miami (21-11) held off a vailant effort by #14 seed Virginia Tech (11-22) 59-49 in the 2nd round of the ACC Tournament.
Sheldon McClellan took ownership on both ends of the floor for the Hurricanes, scoring 16 points and taking on the challenge of stopping Virginia Tech’s Jalen Hudson (coming off a 32-point effort vs. Wake Forest on Tuesday). After Sheldon was done, Hudson had just 5 points on 2/7 shooting.
“I told (the coaching staff) that I wanted to guard him,” McClellan said. “My mindset was, just, stop him, and the offense will come.”
“He played 40 minutes of just terrific basketball,” Miami coach Jim Larranaga said. “I went to take him out once, and I turned to my staff, and they said, ‘No, he never really gets tired.”
Adam Smith and Ahmed Hill scored 10 points each for the Hokies, who shot 3/15 from three. They also struggled from the charity stripe, shooting 4/8 free-throw attempts.
“To never get to the bonus really hurts us and puts even more pressure on our perimeter to make shots,” coach Buzz Williams said. “Why it was a game … (the staff’s) adjustments were superb and I thought the execution of the adjustments by players arguably was as good as it’s been all year defensively.”
Despite all that Williams’ Hokies gave the Hurricanes all they could handle. Miami, who had beaten Virginia Tech in the first two games by at least 21 points, never had a double-digit lead until the final minute. Smith hit a 3 with 55.6 seconds left to make it a two-possession game, and McClellan answered with two free throws. Virginia Tech’s Justin Bibbs then turned it over, and Manu Lecomte added two free throws of his own for the Canes with 33.6 seconds left to put Miami up 58-49. That sealed the win for the Canes and they move on to tonight’s nightcap against #3 seed Notre Dame with the winner getting the winner of #2 seed Duke and #7 seed NC State in the semifinals on Friday.
Miami is currently on the wrong side of the bubble and could not afford to lose this game. They now have a chance at a quality win, a chance that few bubble teams around the country will not get. If they bring the same intensity on the defensive end tonight, they might just be on the right side of the bubble by Friday morning.
ead more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/college/acc/university-of-miami/article13702004.html#storylink=cpy